Description: These five photographs document damage to Washington Court House, Ohio after a tornado struck the city at 8:07 P.M. on September 8, 1885. The tornado destroyed much of the city and killed six people. The tornado left a twelve-mile path of destruction, starting seven miles west of Washington Court House and heading through the city. Damage was estimated at one million dollars. Two of those killed were children fleeing with their family from Jamestown, Ohio, which was the target of an earlier tornado. The photographs measure 8.5" x 12" (21.59 x 30.48 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3118_3737179_001
Subjects: Ohio Government; Architecture; Climate and weather; Courthouses; Tornadoes; Natural disasters
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: These five photographs were taken at the annual Holiday Parade in Washington Court House, Ohio in 1968. The photographs show Santa Claus and parade floats. The first photograph shows a child with Santa Claus and Flippo, the King of Clowns, played by comic and musician Bob Marvin. Flippo was a well-known television personality in the Columbus, Ohio, area. Between 1952 and 1977 he starred in "Tip Top Bandwagon," "Flippo's Big Show," and "The Early Show" on WBNS-TV, the CBS affiliate station in Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3290_4538325_001
Subjects: Daily life; Arts and entertainment; Holidays; Christmas; Celebrations; Parades & processions; Floats (Parades); Clowns
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Broadside advertising a meat and fish sale at Green & Willis in Washington Court House, Ohio. A steer is shown with its horn askew, with the message "A tornado has struck Green & Willis and knocked the price of meats away out of sight." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: VFM6209
Subjects: Advertisements; Advertisements; Businesses; Meat industry and trade--Ohio; Fish;
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Membership certificate from the Washington Court House, Ohio, Fire Department to F. M. Kennedy for five years of service, 1888. This certificate is from the era of the volunteer firefighter. The images show the popular view of firemen at that time, and illustrate scenes of firemen fighting fires, rescuing women and children, pulling a fire engine and blowing a fire trumpet. Tools and equipment of the profession are pictured as well. The certificate reads: "This certifies that F. M. Kennedy has been a member of the Fire Department of Washington C. H. Ohio for the period of 5 years, and by the faithful and honorable discharge of his duties, is entitled to all the exemptions allowed by Law for such service. In witness whereof we have signed our names hereto and affixes the Dept seal this 5th day of April 1888. John Stillman, Chief; R. Bell, Sec." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS5517
Subjects: Fire engines & equipment; Fire fighters; Public safety; Volunteering;
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows armed soldiers standing guard outside the Fayette County Court House, Washington Court House, Ohio, in mid-October 1894. A crowd of onlookers is facing the soldiers; inside the court house, dozens of people are standing the windows observing the activity outside. Rioting erupted at the Fayette County Courthouse following the trial of William Dolby, a biracial man accused of raping a white woman in Washington Court House, Ohio. Dolby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twenty years at the Ohio Penitentiary. The crowd, however, demanded that Dolby be lynched for the crime. Governor William McKinley, who later became president of the United States, sent out the National Guard to protect Dolby. On the morning of October 17, 1894, the National Guard troops, led by Colonel Alonzo B. Coit, ordered the crowd to disperse. The crowd continued to shout and began ramming the courthouse doors. Coit and his troops fired at the crowd through the doors of the courthouse, killing six men and wounding a dozen others. Bullet holes are still visible in the wooden doors of the courthouse. Colonel Coit was indicted for manslaughter but was acquitted at trial. After the trial, Governor McKinley stated, "The law was upheld as it should have been...but in this case at fearful cost.... Lynching cannot be tolerated in Ohio." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06618
Subjects: Riots; Lynching; McKinley, William, 1843- 1901; Courthouses
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is photograph of a map of the town of Washington Courthouse, drawn in 1867. It was for possible use for the Ohio Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration. Washington Courthouse is the county seat of Fayette County. The area was originally settled by Virginia Revolutionary War veterans on land they received from the Federal Government for their service. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F03_053_001
Subjects: Books; Chapter headings; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project; Maps; Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
Places: Washington Courthouse (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of James Collett, a 61-year-old farmer. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Collett was found guilty on three counts of first degree murder of his brother-in-law's family (Elmer, Forrest, and Mildred McCoy). Collett was the 243rd individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 243, James Collett of Fayette County, Legally Electrocuted April 20th, 1945, for the Murder of The Elmer McCoy Family (3 counts Murder 1st. degree)” In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08297
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Paint Township (Ohio); Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: A mural of the "Spirit of the Telegraph" as painted by Archibald M. Willard in the Fayette County Court House. For many years, the creator of this work of art remained completely anonymous. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06795
Subjects: Telegraphs; Courthouses;
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: A mural of the "Spirit of U.S. Mail" as painted by Archibald M. Willard in the Fayette County Court House. For many years, the creator of this work of art remained completely anonymous. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06796
Subjects: Courthouses; Art and artists
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Two photographs document the Fayette County courthouse in Washington Court House, Ohio. The second photograph is a close-up view of the wooden entrance doors, which are marked by bullet holes, the result of an 1894 riot following the trial of William Dolby, a biracial man accused of raping a white woman. The photographs measure 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). The Eclectic-style Fayette County courthouse was designed by architect David W. Gibbs and was completed in 1885. Three murals in the lobby outside the courtroom were painted by Archibald Willard, who painted the Spirit of '76. The first mural, Spirit of the U. S. Mail depicts a winged woman holding a bundle of letters in her left hand and a single envelope in the other hand that bears the inscription "A. M. Willard. . . , Cleveland, Ohio." The Spirit of Electricity portrays a woman floating above a body of water bearing a torch in her right hand. The Spirit of the Telegraph is pictured as a winged woman holding a length of telegraph wire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3119_3737998_001
Subjects: Ohio Government; Architecture; Courthouses; Doors & doorways; Riots; Justice--Administration of
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of the Rawlings homestead, a station on the Underground Railroad at 318 Rawlings Street in Washington Court House, Fayette County, Ohio. The house was built in 1851 for Moses Vance Rawlings (1813-1895), who owned it until 1867. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1208
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Fugitive slaves
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1885, the Ohio Penitentiary became the site of all executions for prisoners on death row; formerly, executions had taken place in the county where the crime was committed. In 1896, the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the state’s only form of capital punishment. Altogether there were 315 people who were electrocuted at the Ohio Penitentiary, their deaths occurring between 1897 and 1963. This photograph shows 33-year-old Everett Jones, the 206th prisoner in Ohio to be executed in this manner. Jones’s portrait was displayed in the east annex of the Ohio Penitentiary along with hundreds of other photographs of prisoners who were executed by the state of Ohio. These were housed in the same area of the penitentiary as death row and the execution chamber itself. The caption at the bottom of this photograph reads: “No. 206, Everett Jones of Fayette County, Electrocuted March 25th, 1938 for the Murder of Robert Lindsey at Washington C. H., Ohio.” View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08260
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Portrait photography
Places: Fayette County (Ohio); Washington Court House (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)